


Yuletide

by canaria_silk



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 07:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11801049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canaria_silk/pseuds/canaria_silk
Summary: Christmas has always been, nevertheless, an incredibly fun event for everybody - but this time, for the unfortunate 16 students, they would have to celebrate the funnest event of the year stuck in the middle of a killing game.





	Yuletide

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, THIS IS INCREDIBLY LONG (and messy?) I apologise for any errors in advance - and this fic has some rare pairings, too. I hope you enjoy it though! This is my first ever ndrv3 fanfic hahaha~

The last few weeks of the year was getting colder as time goes by. New Year's Day came as quick as an eye, quietly and calmly. At first it was cold and filled with icy winds, but now snow began to fluttered down to mesmerise everyone’s eyes. The radio was always active, the reporter reporting about the calm snowfall of December.

From his uncle’s home you could always see the wonderful sight of snow filled streets. Cars passed by the roads as children built numerous snowmen on the sidewalk; the clouds merged with the wide grey, translucent skies. In the garden shrubs grew, which would eventually grow to a pair of wonderful red roses perfect for the spring — It was the loveliest sight for anyone to see the beauty of winter, at least that was what Saihara was thinking.

Looking outside the window of his uncle’s house was always very calming for Saihara Shuichi. Even when he was a young child back then just moving in, his uncle could see a spark of admiration in his tired eyes as he gazed around detective notes and novels. The house was small enough to fit two people in, some may call it too cramp and stuffy but in Saihara’s case he found the place quite lively and exciting. He used to spend a lot of time in his room. His uncle has been worrying ever since young Saihara split from his parents, but the boy himself usually assured him that he was okay. Most often he would sit in uncle’s office chair and skim through his notes on a recent murder case, in every season, cold or hot. He would watch as birds rest on the windowsill, occasionally feeding them time to time. During the winter, the fireplace would be on and he would hover around the fire for warmth. 

It was the day when Saihara convinced his uncle to oversee a recent murder case which just occurred outside a rather popular hangout spot. He would watch his uncle, among many other detectives, investigators and police talk very strictly about the case. He remembered holding on his uncle’s sleeve as he watched the gruesome sight of blood leaking through the white sheets laid over the dead body, he wanted to feel scared but can't help but to be interested. The atmosphere had part to do with his emotions, too. Colourful lights bounced off the brick houses in the neighbourhood, he saw people eating sweets inside their homes as suddenly, a wet particle fell on his nose. It started snowing that day, Christmas was officially here. Saihara felt the snow land on every inch of his body, he can't help but smile to the sky. Even the detectives had to stop to gaze in the evening sky, even so…

Akamatsu Kaede was sitting on the chair in front of the window alone, fumbling with her piano sheets in boredom. She was always the happy-go-lucky child who would jump by the sight of snow, the child who always wanted to see a winter miracle as she played Christmas carols on the piano for her family. But she couldn't feel the holiday spirit. Something was wrong this year… 

Of course she was happy for Christmas, who wouldn't be? But the difference in her mood lied in the current situation she was stuck in. Akamatsu Kaede, along with 15 other innocent students are stuck in a killing game. Along with every other student, she was stuck in stone walls filled with vines and cracks, weeds and grass making its way through the breached floors. It was a broken down school, spacious enough for hanging around in free times, spacious enough to built special rooms called study centres for their super high school levels talents. Obviously, considering her talent, she was resting in her room. 

She stepped outside, still not feeling the Christmas spirit in her. She glanced up the sky, it was grey and cloudy as snow fluttered down to only land on the glass sheltering the whole entire school. Having the hope to feel snow was useless, the glass ceiling won't open up in fear of someone flying up to escape. Akamatsu sighed and let some water vapour in the air, at least it's still cold. She could smell the sweet flavour of chocolate and gingerbread coming from the cafeteria nearby. She struggled with the desire to enter it drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows to at least enlighten her mood. Eventually she let her desires take over her and went inside, opening the large door with garlands hung over it.

“Akamatsu-San?”

She turned as she heard the feminine yet somehow manly voice. Saihara was sitting on a chair facing the table, holding a chocolate bun in his hand ready to bite from, judging from the gingerbread that was where the smell was coming from. 

“Oh! I hope I didn't bother you…” He asked guiltily as he pushed down his cap to the beautiful girl standing before him.

“Not at all!” Akamatsu warmly smiled, “It’s nice to see you here.”

It was really quiet inside the cafeteria. She figured everyone would be staying inside their rooms to cuddle with themselves since it was so cold outside, so glancing out the window was abnormally silent with only the wind howling through the walls. But it also seemed as if the cafeteria walls wouldn't accept the winter cold at all. At least the smell and flavour of food in the air made them forget about the fact it's so cold outside. Akamatsu only thought about bringing a little of the cold in the moment she entered, possibly making Saihara shiver at it. The door slammed shut again and the atmosphere was back to normal, although she was still a little cold. 

Akamatsu sat down with Saihara, quietly with something in mind. Maybe the common atmosphere was the reason it's so dead silent although Akamatsu was thinking that Saihara doesn't want to start the conversation. The boy was in front of her, continuing to eat his chocolate bun and having deep thoughts about something she didn't want to disturb. Eventually the silence was ruined by a short but loud signal. Saihara flinched and took his phone out his pocket, frowning a little and sighed, putting his bun back on the silver plate.

“It's Ouma-Kun.” He said to Akamatsu who looked at him in curiosity, “He’s asking me when I'm going to come back.”

The girl then mumbled under her breath as she looked up, “Um, then am I interrupting your time?” She asked a bit nervously as Saihara violently shook his head.

“No! You aren't!” He said louder than before, “Ouma-Kun...isn't really patient, even though it's only been around 4 minutes since I left his room.”. He sighed again and swallowed the piece of bread in his mouth. “Y-You wanted to tell me something?” His eyes was staring into hers, innocently.

“Y-Yeah!” Akamatsu nodded quickly as Kirumi walked over and placed a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows sitting on the side of the saucer. “Ah, thank you.” She took a sip out of it as the warmth filled her stomach. Kirumi smiled and just went back to sweeping the floor.

Saihara was surprised, but in this situation he couldn't help but pick a guess of what the girl was thinking.

“Is it… about Christmas?” 

Akamatsu nodded and took another sip.

“I thought that...maybe...we could prepare a party for everyone.”

Both of them was silent again. It seems that Akamatsu was trying to calm herself down from the ridiculous idea of hosting a party during a killing game. Saihara thought nothing can surprise him more in the moment.

“Huh?”

In normal terms, hearing the word ’Christmas party’ would make anyone instantly say yes in enthusiasm. Just imagine sitting by the warm fire, with your family and friends gathering around the dinner table talking about their experiences, anything. The oven would be packed with a hundred of delights ranging from pastries to sweets and Christmas carols songs would be played out loud on the record player. But god forbid they were in a killing game. With the stress already poured in it, how would they possibly enjoy the sweet joy of Christmas? How do they know the party will go smoothly without anyone even thinking of plotting a murder? Their lives were at risk at this point. A Christmas party won't cut it—

“I think that's a superb idea.” The maid hung her broomstick on the wall hanger. She walked elegantly over to the boy and girl, folding her hands on her lap. “My master always hosted one, and I always helped out.” She continued, now having a smile on her lips.

“That's right.” A petite boy appeared at their sights unexpectedly with a tired expression on his face, but then he put his hands over his head and grinned. “A Christmas party sounds fun!”

“Wah?! When did you get here?!” Saihara gasped loudly as the boy with short, wavy purple hair grin widened.

“Well, Saihara-Chan was taking way too long to get back. So I just came here myself to see how he's doing!” Ouma glanced around the cafeteria and then back to the raven-haired man.

The maid and the supreme leader stood idly next to the detective and pianist. Akamatsu was honestly left speechless but incredibly desperate to hear Saihara’s response to her question. She knew he was a man with deep inner thoughts, he was a detective after all so she ought to take his time. Saihara was stressing over the endless possibilities of what could have happened if the party went haywire and someone could have died. Sweat formed on his face as suddenly he was reassured by Akamatsu, reaching out her hand and holding his. 

“It's okay if we didn't have one… But even if we do, please don't worry about it too much.” She glanced and let out such a reassuring smile Saihara can't help but forget about all he was thinking. He blushed a little by the sight of her hand on his, but managed to pull away in time. Ouma pouted.

“So is that a yes or a no?” The boy sighed, looking over the blushing mess the pianist had made the detective.

“Um...yes, sure, of course.” Saihara said, not realising he had said his approval at least three times. Kirumi then picked up her monokuma tablet, 

“I'll contact Monokuma.”

━━━━━━━━

Walking by the icy sidewalk, Chabashira Tenko breathed in the cold air. She was going towards the study centre of the super high school level magician, as she could know, her crush was at the moment. The room was located not so far away from hers, but since she was practicing some early Aikido in a different training room she had to be further away. Despite having no snow to swoosh towards her direction and her face, she couldn't help but chuckle — the cold of December had its own beauty. Tenko has seen a lot of different things in her life, but ever since coming here, experience has been weirder. She removed her glove and felt the air as she looked up the grey sky. It seemed like something special should happen soon. 

After she got to the SHSL Magician study centre, she shivered slightly due to temperature change and rung the doorbell. Waiting for an answer she looked around the walls; she noticed some decorations hung on the walls and on the door, she founded it cute. Soon she heard the sound of steps behind the door.

The door swung open slowly as a small girl with short red hair tumbled out of it, still holding the doorknob as she stared at the taller girl.

“Tenkooooo.” The girl greeted her in a lazily yet pleased voice, Tenko smiled so hard her jaw may rip off.

“Yumeno-San!” She entered the room at ease while the smaller girl shut the door. 

Tenko brushed her coat and removed it, hanging it on the coat hanger sitting by the door. Tenko took the time to look around the room in interest. There were few photographs in simple frames on the brown and brick walls — most were just explosions and magic tricks, and then a picture of the magician herself with the usual hat, cape and wand — there were also a shelf which hung all her brewed potions and the large speaker hanging over it. On the floor there was a big soft blue carpet with some tables holding her props and many different items such as a guillotine, a cage with four doves and multiple contraptions meant to be showed off during magic shows. Her most favourite being the brewing pot in the middle with candles hovering around it. In her eyes, it was magical. 

“Do you know? It's Christmas already!” Tenko exclaimed merrily to the magician, taking a seat down the comfy chair. Yumeno sighed a tired ’hmmm?’ , clearly showing hardly any interest in the event, taking a seat opposite the aikido master. 

It's Tenko’s worst nightmare to bore Yumeno, so she grinned wider and put her finger over her lips ready to say something. “If there's a party, you can show of your wonderful magic tricks!” A ’Oh’ then formed on the girl's lips.

Yumeno crossed her arms for a bit and then pointed to her friend, “If that's the case, I will prepare the best tricks!” She proudly announced as Tenko can't help but cheer and clap loudly, proving how much she's excited for the girl. “If we have a party..” Yumeno continued and let out a sigh, dropping her arms tiredly.

Occasionally or really everyday, Yumeno sounds tired and lazy as if she doesn't want to be talking to anyone, but in Tenko’s case she doesn't mind at all. In fact she believes their relationship had grew greatly ever since they first met! With the help of Angie of course. The redhead would sigh in annoyance by the sight of the energetic girl, not being able to handle her extreme personality — but the latter never gave up to at least talk to her. Tenko tightened the bow on her head smiling, she was glad she was able to speak with Yumeno and create a bond with her.

A loud signalling noise bounced through the walls of the room as the speaker rung loudly. The TV screen switched on as a group of colourful robot-controlled bears know as ’Monokuma Kubs’ sat on the wide and long leather chair with dolls of the students sitting or laying off and on it. The background, although, had Christmas ornaments put onto them messily as if it was a last minute decision. 

“How is everyone?” Five of the colourful bears said in sync as they waved their paws,

“We have an announcement to make!” The pink and white bear announced in an high pitch voice, Monophanie.

“I’m sure all of you know the event called uh…” The blue and white bear, Monokid, went to a thinking pose as another voice interrupted it,

“CHRISTMASSSSS!!” The tigerstriped bear yelled over the top and then pushed up its glasses, Monosuke. “Pardon me.”

Another bear colours were white and green, unlike the others, this one really looked like a robot. It just stayed silent during the whole talk, fiddling with a gingerbread cookie. It looked honestly adorable.

“Our papa has announced we set up an Christmas party inside the school! That said there will be no killings for just this week!” Yelling proudly, the white and red bear jumped on his seat, Monotaro. “Papa has decided to assemble all of you in the gym!” 

The five of the Bears then waved again, saying goodbye. The screen went back to black as Tenko and Yumeno stared at each other idly, still processing what the heck they just announced. The redhead was the first to react, clapping her hand together and she raised her arms up. 

“Tenko did you hear? They said Christmas party!” She grinned, meeting eyes with her best friend.

“Mmh! I never thought it’d ever happen! That means our wish came true!” Tenko jumped up the seat, “It also means you can show off your magic tricks!” She put her hands on her hips, proud of the redhead. 

Yumeno smiled in more enthusiasm and nodded, standing over the table to grab a magic wand and her signature hat. Tenko remained seated anticipating what the girl would do with those props with a innocent smile full of love, meanwhile Yumeno tapped her wand on the hat and then stuffed her hand inside it. 

“Tenko, close your eyes.” She ordered, and the taller girl did so by shutting her eyes close without even peeking. A few seconds after, something warm and fluffy wrapped around her neck, before opening her eyes she raised her hands to feel the puffy and smooth texture having a faint idea of what it was. She grinned, confident of what it may be until Yumeno asked her to open her eyes. Tenko’s eyes flashed open faster than the speed of light, she jumped and hugged Yumeno tightly. The red scarf on her neck almost suffocating the smaller girl. “Teeenkoooo..” 

“YUMENO-SAN, I LOVE IT SO SO MUCH.” The smaller girl felt her nose sinking into the scarf she knitted specially for her best friend, she let out a grunt, swinging her arms in the air as her head became buried in her chest. Tenko swung away still having Yumeno in her grasp, her smile was so pure even Yumeno’s heart had to flutter. “I’ll cherish it for all of my life!” 

“I’m glad, Tenko.”

━━━━━━━━

After the monokuma kubs announcement went off, all 16 students made their way to the gym. Most of them were seen shivering, breathing into their hands for warmth or rubbing them together to create friction. They wore thick coats, soft scarfs, and some even wore beanies. The wind blew again making everyone jump, sighing once again. Once opening the doors to the gym, Iruma Miu couldn't help but admire some of the decorations Monokuma seemingly put up in a rush. Although she felt impressed, she scoffed at how poorly arranged they were and wanted to yell that her fancy inventions could have fitted so much better. The first students she could see inside the gym was the detective, pianist, ultimate leader and maid.

Stomping her feet to the ground she then crossed her arms and glared at the four of them. Saihara and Akamatsu couldn't help but to be intimidated by the girl’s fierce expression, Kirumi was pretty much unfazed but obviously the boy had to speak up in an unbecoming matter.

“Ah! It's the prostitute slut!”

“D-Don't scream at me like that so suddenly!” Iruma held her arms close to her chest with tears in her eyes, her hair shrivelled up - moving by her emotions. But then straight after that she went back to normal and pointed at the boy in an annoyed face,

“Who are you calling a prostitute slut? I'm the great Iruma Miu!” She angrily retorted, Ouma just grinned.

“Ah, so boring.” He replied in boredom and faced back to Saihara with a beam of a smile. Saihara just frowned and scratched his eyebrows, straightening his hat.

Iruma crossed her arms once and again, this time putting her arms under her chest to expose her bosom. Akamatsu sighed and decided to inspect her outfit, it was… bizarre. She was wearing a large, oversized coat with a fluffy hoodie covering her head to thighs. Underneath her coat was another jumper which covered her pink dress, except for her chest. In addition she even wore leggings and knee-high boots with gloves that made your fingertips stick out. After a while Akamatsu looked away to avoid any suspicion but Iruma already noticed her staring.

“What? Am I too hot for you or—”

“No it's not that.”

Another silence filled the room. Iruma shrugged, guessing she caused the awkward atmosphere. She slowly broke the silence with a loud ’ahem!’ whereas everyone’s attention jolted up to her. She held her hand together in awkwardness, although catching their attention, she has no idea what to say — probably guessing the first thing that comes out her lips is offending to the latter. 

“Uh so, we’re here because of that bear right? So where the heck is he?!” Pointing to the stage towards the back, she stomped her foot again. Saihara sighed and reassured the girl,

“I'm sure he's waiting until everyone arrives, Iruma-San.” He replied at ease, although still feeling a bit of discomfort which was eventually relaxed by Akamatsu’s touch and smile. Iruma let out a ’Oh’ and looked to the ground and up, taking a seat on the couch with her legs crossed and her arm over the cushions. 

“Aren't you feeling warm with all those clothes on?” Kirumi asked, “The heater is switched on already.” The maid continued, expanding her arms to possibly be ready to collect Iruma’s many coats like what she did to her previous masters. Iruma shook her head in denial, seemingly finding the cloths on her comfy. Kirumi nodded and stepped back, her eyes closed. Upon waiting for everyone else to arrive, Saihara was speaking to Akamatsu with Ouma interrupting them non-stop desperate to gain attention. The inventor gazed back and forth.

Prior the Killing Game, Iruma lived a easy life as a child. The definition of ’Easy’ in her dictionary was different to everyone else. Her ’Easy’ was hardworking, she worked all day everyday, desperate to create something like no other. Such events like Christmas never bothered her, unless it made someone happy and acknowledge her work, so she decided to put it to a test. The first test was an attempt to create a factory stored in the kitchen of her home. Her family was always full of busybodies who took New Year's a bit too seriously. The factory consists on a station which refills hot drinks like hot chocolate, and then plopping down marshmallows once the liquid was done. Moving to the next station by a conveyor belt to collect food produced by her mother, and then sending down candy canes with a ribbon neatly attached to them. 

The test was successful and many people enjoyed the sweet addition, their home became a hit to the local families surrounding their neighbourhood and as a young girl, Iruma was nevertheless proud and happy. But due to being a perfectionist, it was never enough and considered it a failure despite its compliments. Her type of fun was unlike others, her Christmas didn't conclude with building snowmen on the sidewalk, her Christmas was to work work work.

Because of this, Iruma felt distant towards everyone else in the killing game — she didn't know what they did, and even if she knew she didn't know how to relate to them. What did they do? What was fun for them? She felt herself tense up, and then sweating. Kirumi took notice of this and somehow finally made Iruma took off her coat and sweater, along with her gloves and scarf. Her eyes jolted open,

“Holy shit I'm doomed.”

━━━━━━━━

When the announcement went off, Shirogane Tsumugi was covered in layers of fabric piled all above her. About three days ago, she has been working on cosplans endlessly; sewing outfits to perfection while fixing coloured wigs. Even the loud ringing voice of the Monokuma Kubz couldn’t wake her up from her slumber, she just laid there almost lifeless, the big fabric being like some sort of blanket to her. 

All in her sleep, faint colours went off and on in the darkness of her dreams. Amid the wandering darkness of the dream, she could hardly see 15 students standing before her - either dead or alive. It felt real, the tears pouring down the girl’s face as she bit her lips, clenched her fist and yelled all she could to the other students. It was too dark, she couldn’t make out what the girl was saying but she was without a doubt desperate. The colours began to fade, then it was filled with pink. Tsumugi felt herself sink into black deeper and deeper, real tears began to well up in her eyes.

With a gentle shake on the shoulder, the girl’s eyes slowly blinked open. She lifted her heavy body off the ground, shaking the fabric off her and stretched while yawning. Whilst feeling her long blue hair, noticing how tangled it was, another sigh left her lips, slowly noticing the blurry figure of somebody standing in front of her. The figure lightly placed her glasses on her hand only to be worn immediately finally making out who the figure was.

“Oh, Kiibo-Kun.” Tsumugi fixed her tilted glasses, “Thanks for waking me up.” 

The robot, seemingly male, raised his arm out as she held it to be lifted up. A smile widened on his face as he let loose of the female’s hand. “Good morning, Shirogane-san.” he put his hands on his hips proudly, “I knew you’d be still asleep, so I came and woke you up.”

Tsumugi chuckled and then fixed her skirt, “Why so suddenly, was there something I missed?” Turning back to the messy table occupied with needles and strings, she grabbed her brush and brushed out her hair until it became straight once again. 

Kiibo nodded, “The Monokuma Kubz made an announcement to meet up in the gym foyer… for some sort of… Christmas event—” he was immediately cut off by the girl’s sudden squealing.

“What? For real?” her refined lips fixed into a bright smile as she held her hands together, “This is exciting news, Kiibo-Kun!” 

“Then...shall we go?” Kiibo added in, a bit taken aback from her unpredictable excitement. Tsumugi smiled and went to the door, opening it.

“By the way Kiibo-Kun… how on earth did you get into my room?”

“Oh...uhhhh… about that..”

Both Tsumugi and Kiibo glanced up at the cloudy sky once they left the cosplayer’s messy studio-like study centre. The christmas feeling brought her nostalgia, she was thinking that soon she will have to share postcards with her fellow classmates. Normally back then she would receive letters from her relatives and friends, and by tradition she would write them back by mail or something like that. She was reminded that often she would have sat by the windowsill with the sound of wood burning behind her, warm cookies in her hand accompanied by milk. Sometimes she would have delve into the moment far too much, her hand would slip and she would fall face-flat on the plate asleep. Back then, she was a different person, with another identity besides Shirogane Tsumugi.

The memories made the girl’s heart flutter warmly, which Kiibo observed and found it quite sweet. As someone who enjoys watching his classmates, he remembered how the girl’s smile varies very differently from time to time. Having paid attention to this unreal warm smile the girl made, just secretly, he recorded it. He giggled under his breath which made her glance back at him.

“Speaking of which, do you have any fond memories of Christmas?” Tsumugi asked. Kiibo was a robot manufactured by Professor Iidabashi, she wondered if he shared any memories which him worth sharing. 

Kiibo went into a thinking pose, his antenna-like ahoge shocked up in the air as if he’s searching for some memoires inside his head. After a while of thinking, they were coming closer to the gym. Before entering the gym, Kiibo stopped at his tracks causing Tsumugi to pause along with him.

“I’m sorry, Shirogane-San, I can’t remember anything.” The robot looked down wistfully, his eyes somehow… full of regret. He yearned for something to share, he didn’t want to let the girl down. He searched through his head again, seeing nothing but errors and blank spaces. He shut his eyes, his ahoge twitching more making Tsumugi worry. Kiibo tired breaking through his own coding to find something, which he succeeded on. 

“It’s okay, Kiibo—” Now it was her which was cut off by the suddenly over excited boy.

“Um, how do I put this, I think I remembered something!” a smile widened on his face forming a tint of red on his cheek. “Hmm… In my memories… I believed I spent Christmas with a girl…” He mumbled, his ahoge still twitching non-stop. After a while, his eyes drooped down again and a sigh let out his lips. “That is all… i remembered.”

A giggle then composed into a laugh escaped Tsumugi’s lips as she held her stomach, little tears forming in her eyes as she grinned so widely it felt dreamlike. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and took out her fogged glasses. “You’re so cute!”

Kiibo blushed again, he tried to retort but instead choked on his words. In the end it was still hard to understand the lovely girl standing before him.

“You know, it doesn’t matter if you don’t remember your past memories.” She slipped her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose, “The reason why this event is being created in the first place is specifically to build memories.” with that, Kiibo looked up, “Don’t be so afraid, have fun.” 

Kiibo shrugged clumsily, trying to avert his gaze from Tsumugi, solely to avoid being seen a hot mess in the face. He wondered why someone like her is capable of making his heart beat strangely, apart from everyone else. He looked up and managed to choke out a smile with his face still burning madly,

“Yeah...You’re right, Shirogane-San…”

“A-Are you okay? You look red…”

━━━━━━━━

Almost everyone was gathered in the gym. Everyone stood leisurely, some minding their own business, some talking to other students. It was a shock to see everyone so calmly around the gym, since this was the place where they got their hopes upside down. Harukawa Maki can still feel the slight fear she felt the day she arrived in this dark, horrid place. Although the fear she felt wasn’t as heavy as the others, she too, can feel something wrong. Many other students noted that her talent, the Super high school level Caregiver, never matched up with her personality let alone appearance. Maki didn’t feel the need to be offended by the common statement, because that is very true. Maki wasn’t the SHSL Caregiver, she was the SHSL Assassin in secret.

That being so, she never got to experience the joy and warmth of this so called ‘Christmas’. She had faint memories of the children at her orphanage celebrate the event, however. The memories sparked in her head; The children would gather along a big round wooden table, snacks and food would be set at the table, and the older kids would ask for the younger kids to sit still so no drinks would spill over, and that no one gets hurt. Just as Maki wanted to feel this enjoyment, she was often dragged away from her superiors to continue murdering people in cold blood in Christmas. No longer can she find the event to be something fun anymore, it was just cold.  
Maki shrugged and let out a tired groan as she plopped herself down the couch. She gazed to her side to find another classmate, Iruma Miu, sitting in manly fashion. Suddenly the inventor jumped up, grabbing her coat and tread to another party of students.

“Yo, teach me about this thing!” Iruma yelled towards Kiibo and Tsumugi, who immediately responded to her.

“What is it?” Tsumugi asked,

“Uh like, what the fuck do you do in christmas.” She replied, scratching the back of her head,

“According to my data, you have fun with family and friends.” Kiibo answered,

“Fun? So no work?”

Maki watched the three ramble on and on about Christmas. Deep down she would have joined the chat and asked about the event just like the Inventor did, but no, she waited. A sigh let out her lips again, she squinted her eyes due to lack of sleep and all of the sudden felt the other side of the couch sink. She opened her eyes and glanced to the side to see a familiar man, Maki just smiled.

“Momota.” She mumbled silently, pleased by his presence.

“Harumaki, you okay? You’re sighing a lot.” He mentioned, still looking at the three students conversing about the event.

“No, just tired.” She replied, shutting her eyes again to look at another direction and then back.

“We still have time, you wanna rest?” Momota asked, his eyes full of concern for the girl.

Maki shook her head in denial, sleeping in a place where a robot-controlled-ish bear would pop out of nowhere is dangerous, even the most naive of people would know that. She crossed her arms and legs, although she denied that she wouldn’t rest, she still closed her eyes. Momota wondered if she’d doze off anytime sooner, but knowing her she would know when someone gets close to her or not, asleep or awake. 

The morning by far went by smoothly for Momota, well, sorta. He was woken up by the cold in the middle of the night and lost a bit of precious sleep, rolled out his bed and accidentally stumbling his toe on the edge of his bed and cried. But besides all that, he had a peaceful breakfast in the cafeteria while no one was there except Kirumi, only leaving once Saihara entered. He admits that the announcement caught him off guard, but founded it okay since he won’t have to be alone hovered up in his room all day. 

“Harumaki... what do you think of this whole ordeal?” He asked, “I mean, looking at you, Christmas doesn’t look like your thing.” He tried making that question sound as if he was brushing it off as a joke or something, raising his hand and grinned the grin he always had.

Maki shrugged, “I agree. Christmas isn’t my thing.” Although admitting what the boy had just said to her, she felt uncomfortable with herself agreeing to it. A hollow feeling followed her statements, causing nausea to feel in her tummy. “B-But…”

“Eh, oh well, you know. All we gotta do then is make this Christmas worthed it right?” In some such way, Momota seemed to have solved Maki’s thoughts buried in her head. He looked so laid-back in her eyes, yet… was that what attracted her to him? 

Maki put her hands on her cheeks and looked away, in some sort of pout. “Guess you’re right.” A mumble managed to escape her lips. Momota seemed to have taken notice to this, but just smiled and faced back the direction of the other students.

“Er, so, Momota... “ She placed her hands down on her lap and shyly glanced at him, “What do you say we...uh, spend the party together?” The words sounded as if they slipped out her lips like water, but in truth the words were ridiculously hard to say.

Momota stared at her for a good whole minute which led to the brunette feeling more and more out of place. She awaited his answer, clearly letting him to take as much time as possible. A sigh came out the man’s lips, he stood up and scratched his head and then back to her.

“Sure… why not?” He muttered awkwardly, a slight tint of red spreading on his cheeks. Maki felt her heart skip a beat, feeling her face turning bright red once and again.

“G-Good.” She immediately got up the couch and wobbled away towards another group of students to hide away her embarrassment from the astronaut. He shrugged and then moved away stiffly, though nevertheless, Momota Kaito was undeniably delighted.

━━━━━━━━

The air around the gym was unusually pleasing and calming. Normally it’d be so tense and strained, everyone would be so self-concious of each other and constantly look around to see how safe they were. But now… it was… nice. Amami Rantaro felt some sort of harmony inside of him, being able to trust his classmates in an exciting event is something he longed for. He smiled to himself, but felt a some sort of killer-stare behind him.

“...Frickin’ Normie.”

Judging by the tone of the feminine voice, he instantly knew the owner of the voice. Well… definitely he and her wasn’t at the best of best relationship. Without anyone knowing he did have some sort of history involving her, though it’s best not to talk about it. After all, right now he is the Ultimate ???

Up on the wooden creaky stage, the red curtain unwinded as the infamous Black and White bear also known as Monokuma, and ALSO known as the headmaster jumped out of nowhere and landed on the platform with that usual half-assed grin of his. One side of that bear was coated in despair; A wide grin revealing teeth, a large red eye shaped like a lightning bolt. The other side was just nothing… the word Hope can’t possibly be used on him - it just had a small smile and a small eye. 

“I’m glad you all could make it here safely!!” He exclaimed in that standoffish high-pitched voice of his, grinning while his paws laid on his stomach. “As you all know, we’re here today for a special announcement!!!” Everyone just rolled their eyes, “Though, the children probably already said everything… siggghhh.”

“And so? Get on with it!” Tenko shouted, immediately reflexes into a fighting stance.

Monokuma just laughed again which made her fighting stance take a stricter form, “Why so defensive? Welp, as you know~ Your lovely classmates - Akamatsu, Saihara, Kirumi and Ouma-Kun decided to throw a christmas party specially for these two days! Well, The week ” 

Amami smiled with his eyebrows furrowed, he never understood this bear… or headmaster of Hope’s Peak or whatever. But looking at everyone else, they clearly were displeased by his presence. 

“Eh? Why’s everyone so unhappy?” Ouma spoke up, with that innocent soft face of his, later twisting into something else more sinister. “You heard what he said right? Christmas! you should all be happy!”

“I mean, we are happy! But can’t this bear just go away already?!” Iruma shrieked, with the usual arrogant pose. Kiibo and Tsumugi just sighing as she rambled away.

“Oh yes, we are happy!” A voice conveyed, everyone turned to see the Super High School Level Artist. “Christmas is Jesus’ gracious birthday!” The artist, Yonaga Angie said very playfully. “God must be so happy!” She squeaked in glee.

“B-But is it legit? Does Monokuma really mean no killing for a week?!” A very muscular voice blurted out, “Gonta will not tolerate if Monokuma is lying!” The Super High School Level Entomologist, Gokuhara Gonta, asserted confidently.

“Ehehe~” Monokuma rubbed the back of his head as flowers somehow sparked behind him, “I said it before didn’t I?” His sharp claws then popped out of his paws as his red eye sparked, “I do not tell lies!!” Amami knew he was telling the truth, “And so~ if anyone were to break this one week rule...A special execution will be played out for you!!” Monokuma then went back to being jolly. “For now, goodbye and Happy Holidays!”

Leaving as it is, the bear disappeared in thin air leaving everyone breathless on the spot. Amami wondered why the strangled atmosphere, even though it was so serene before. Being with company with that mysterious bear was already enough to make them all shudder, not like he was complaining really, in some sense Amami did fear the monotonous bear. He felt as if he should say something to brighten everyone’s mood.

“Hey, about what Mono-”

“Everyone! It’s alright! We can trust Monokuma’s words!”

Amami’s supposingly noble sentence was abruptly cut off by Akamatsu. He left his mouth opened, still stoned in place.

“Oh! I’m sorry, were you about to say something?!” Akamatsu looked back at the dumbfounded man, clearly in regret. Amami just waved,

“Oh no, it’s nothing. Please continue.” And as he said, the girl continued.

Not like he can complain about anything, in his eyes, Akamatsu Kaede was like their leader. With such optimism and beauty, who would say no to her? She literally has justice brimming out of her, like a bright light in the bottomless darkness. He admired her from afar, hoping someone like her will be able to excel through these killing school days… Just as Akamatsu finished her speech to relax everyone’s stiff shoulders, he heard a strange laugh at the background.

“Kukuku…” A man with long black hair giggled to himself as he glanced back to see who was staring, “Ah, so it was you, Amami-Kun.” He placed his hand so gentilly on his own face, Amami can’t help but force out a smile.

“How are you, Korekiyo-Kun?” Amami asked the Ultimate Anthropologist who just continued minding his own business.

“I’m doing okay…” He definetly have a curious, creepy aura, It really is hard to get comfy with him.

“Oh! Korekiyo-Kun, Amami-Kun!!” Gonta waved a ‘hello’ to the two males and ran up to them with a beaming smile, “Are you excited for the party? Gonta is so excited!” 

“Mmh, I’m pretty excited.” Amami replied at ease, Korekiyo just mumbling words to himself.

“Ah, yes.” Korekiyo finally replied and looked away, walking towards a different direction. Just as he went away, Amami took notice of a smaller male standing at the far distance near the door.

“Hoshi-Kun?” The Ultimate ??? had an urge to go up to the Ultimate Tennis Player who was fairly smaller than everyone else… but with an unexpected low voice. Gonta then decided to call for him, projecting his voice loudly.

“Hoshi-Kun!!” His voice echoed off the walls of the gym, no one seemed to mind though except for the tennis player himself. “Would you like to join our conversation?” He continued, Amami wondered if they were even conversing about something at the first place.

“No… please continue, I am fine.” Hoshi replied, holding some sort of cigarette oh his fingertips, later confirmed it was nothing but candy. After that, Hoshi just exited the foyer after Korekiyo. He could feel the Maid staring at him as he went pass.

“What a shame…” Gonta sighed in disappointment, Amami just stared blankly at the door after the two men left. He was only woken up by the enthusiastic voice of the artist going on and on about God to the Aikido Master and Magician. 

“We have nothing to worry about, right?”

━━━━━━━━

After Monokuma’s grand appearance and unexpected departure, the evening has been quite ordinary for all of the students. As most of everyone left the gym foyer, the only ones left were the original party organisers. Kirumi constantly discussed about her past events with her former masters, all at the same time she mentioned some tips and advice the party should need - like decorations, and so, nothing the Ultimate Maid can’t do. After a while of conversing in the topic, Akamatsu let out a rather sudden statement.

“Oh my goodness, but how about Mistletoes?!” Saihara felt himself choked on his water, only to hit his chest multiple times to regain composure. 

Kirumi placed her hand on her chin, nodding in acceptance, “I don’t mind… I heard it’s targeted towards couples.” she later realised what she said, “Wait, is anyone having romantic interest in someone else here?” she later said in a rather serious, concerning tone which made everyone curious to why the maid was so intrigued by this.

“Oh yes me!” A hand shot up, “Thing is, I’m intrigued by Saihara-Chan, does that mean I have romantic interest in him?” Ouma declared, he straightened his back, devoting his full attention to the detective. Saihara again felt himself choke on his own water again.  
“P-Pardon?” Saihara hesitated, then bit his lip as a visible tint of red spreaded along his cheeks. 

Ouma smirked eye to eye, Akamatsu and Kirumi were left with their jaws dropped by the sudden confession. Kirumi was first to regain the situation,

“Oh? So Ouma has an romantic interest in Saihara?” She quickly stated, wanting confirmation, although her eyes looked so stricken.

The smaller boy then fell back, laying his head on Saihara’s chest as Saihara still sat there dumbfounded with the cup of water in his hand. “Yeah! And i’m not afraid to admit it-”

Saihara accidentally let loose of his grip on the cup. As if everything was in slow motion, the cup dropped bluntly on top of the supreme leader, the water filling his mouth. Ouma jolted off his chest to the floor, coughing out the water as Saihara later took notice of what he just did. So he too, jolted up.

“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Saihara panicked, feeling sweat form on his forehead, “Ouma-Kun!”

“Aw, please, Saihara-Chan. Just a bit of water won’t kill me.”

“I KNOW THAT.”

Saihara rubbed his forearm absently, clearing his throat and then looking back at Akamatsu and Kirumi. “Continuing on?” 

Kirumi hummed in response, but still managed to slip in time to grab a warm towel for Ouma to dry from the water. Akamatsu then let out a small smile from everything that just happened before her eyes, giggling in delight that the mood had lightened up. She took out a pen and wrote down on the piece of paper before her, marking that a mistletoe was a must-have in the party, making it some sort of couple attraction for classmates who were crushing on each other. 

Ouma, who was still on the floor, pouted as he buried his face onto the warm towel Kirumi gave him, making constant glances to the detective. It was unlike him but, he felt unsure about stepping back up and cracking jokes. Ouma gazed at Saihara for a minute, only making his head turn in embarrassment. It gave Ouma a strange feeling, he hoped he didn’t do anything to offend him at any point.

Saihara cleared his throat, “Maybe we should ask some of the Ultimates whether or not they would help.” He stated, “Shirogane-San could maybe make some costumes, Iruma-San might want to create some fancy creations, Yonaga-San might help with painting decorations… Um… Let’s see.”

“Ah, sounds great!” Akamatsu smiled by the thought, jotting down the notes on the notepad,

“I will inform everyone.” Kirumi continued, smiling gentilly now. 

The evening was beginning to close in, the sun was setting, looking outside the window she could tell that night was befalling. Kirumi began to slip on her coat and scarf, informing everyone that she will now take her leave to inform the other classmates about their plans. She waved a goodbye and stepped outside, breathing in a little to her gloves as the misty air from her breath filled the night sky. Akamatsu glanced back with dreamy eyes as the Maid walked away, she later then picked up her winter clothing add-ons and ran to the door, waving bye and shutting the door close.

“K-Kirumi!!”

The gym door shut tightly, keeping the warm air from escaping the room. The only ones rest in the room was Ouma and Saihara, who just took a glimpse to the door and back, sighing a little. Saihara stood from his chair, wearing his coat, scarf and gloves. As he went closer to the door, Ouma quickly got up and skid in front of the man.

Saihara didn’t know how to react, so he continued staring back at the smaller boy and waited for a response to crack the awkward atmosphere they unintentionally made. A mumble left Ouma’s lips, although he didn’t want to be the first to say anything… which was strange coming out of the thoughts of an constant chatterbox of lies.

The raven haired male awkwardly glanced to the left, and then right, trying to avoid every possible chance of eye contact with the desperate male standing before him. Ouma felt his heart drop, maybe he did do something to offend him… like that unexpected confession. He took a breath, and then two, his head shot up to burst into a smile and ramble on about jokes but instead- he felt Saihara’s hand brush up against his cheek.

The detective’s hand hesitantly reach out his hand to him, maybe to stroke leader’s hair or something, but instead ended up his finger on the latter’s nose. There was a yelp, and then without much thought, Saihara placed a hand over Ouma’s mouth to muffle any shrieks. He felt Ouma nod against his hand, growing embarrassed at his thoughtless reaction.

Eventually, out of the blue, Saihara leaned down to place a kiss on the back of his own hand, which was still covering Ouma’s lips. He removed his hand and blushed slightly, 

“I’m sorry about the water incident.” He then exited the gym, shutting the door, creating an awkward silence for Ouma who was still left alone in the room. Ouma felt himself melt, literally melting down to the floor with his hand covering his mouth, back against the door. He squealed silently as he felt heat gush all over his face. He removed his hand from his mouth and huffed, feeling a line of drool come rolling down his lips. 

Ouma closed his eyes briefly, his chest filled with warmth, feeling the cool breeze of air leaking through the gaps of the door cooling him down. He chuckled under his breath,

“When did you get this good, Saihara-Chan?”

━━━━━━━━

The sky grew darker and darker as time went by, eventually all light faded away as the moon made its appearance… to only be covered by the foggy and thick clouds which kept the sky cold, keeping the ambience of christmas mixed with winter. There was still time before 10:00 pm, aka the midnight mark where every student had to return back to their rooms, but obviously hardly anyone did that - breaking the rules were common in this school of killing.

The hallways were silent, but as Kirumi and Akamatsu progressed even further around their classmates rooms, they could hear many chattering between students boy and girl. Akamatsu realised that ever since Monokuma announced the One week without Killing, everyone has been enjoying their time with each other more and more without facing the fear of being stabbed in the back.

Kirumi was walking fast between each rooms, greeting herself in with elegance and formality, as she did so she asked the picked students from the list to see if they would contribute in helping the party out - and in response every one of them said yes, which made the maid crack a small smile in delight. She then continued to visit every room with the pianist by her side, making odd faces here to there.

Akamatsu was being unusually quiet, despite offering her help, which was just making visits to the rooms. She felt something strange in her heart, as if a feeling she’s never experienced before - it was like the feeling of chocolate; sweet and greedy. She was fine as she minded her own business, but every now and then as she glanced back and forth from her accomplice, her heart would begin stirring this chocolatey mixture. 

Akamatsu Kaede is in love.

And she was greedy about it too. The moment her eyes meets with the Ultimate maid’s, the feeling of sweet greediness fills her heart, transforming her words into a more aggressive trance. She wants her. Thinking about all these bittersweet thoughts, Akamatsu slapped herself in order to snap out of it- what was she thinking? Kirumi Toujou is her fellow classmate and friend! Eventually, her staring caught the latter off guard.

“Akamatsu-San...is anything the matter?” Kirumi asked, looking back with worry in her eyes. Akamatsu straight away felt somewhat guilty to put the maid into concern for her. 

Akamatsu yelped, “Oh, uh, nothing…” she stumbled a bit and absently fiddled with her fingers as her head suddenly went up towards the maid.

“I LIKE YOU??!!” The young pianist blurted out loud in such awkwardness the atmosphere grew tense. She felt heat radiating in every inch of her body, to the point it was too hot she was forced to withdraw her scarf. The pianist bit her lip as the maid beamed at her in a widened yet curious eyes, almost commanding her to continue.

“A-And, I just think you’re really amazing and uh…” she continued, the wind picking up wildly, “You’re really pretty and...Y-You’re indescribable because you’re just that good and i’m just so-” 

Somehow she managed to surprise Kirumi again.

“I-I’m just so happy to uh, I-I just love you very...very much…” The word’s stopped pouring, and Akamatsu’s face was dyed in red, she was practically dying from embarrassment, yearning for a answer. Kirumi stood there, with her eyes wide open, hands tightly clenched up on each other, her jaw hanging wide opened as the confession finished.

Kirumi smiled and a ‘aha’ came out of her lips, she stumbled back, looked to the side while fixing her hair, pushing a strand at the back of her ear. Slowly, a tint of red blossomed on her cheeks. Kirumi ducked in embarrasment and then shot her head up, with a grin so wide Akamatsu thought it was impossible coming from her.

“Wow.” Akamatsu blurted, shutting her own mouth by slamming her hand on her lips.

“Wow, indeed.” Kirumi responded, still brushing out her hair without realising it. “I didn’t know… and i’ve never had anyone say this to me before.”

The two ladies looked at each other timidly, every time their gazes met they can’t help but turn away with intense flushed faces. The silence was groundbreaking, the wind picking up even more, this time making howls. It was weird, it felt as if the tension between the two was noisier than the howls. It felt too good to be true. Kirumi decided to break the air.

“Yes.” She beamed a smile, the blonde pointed her finger at herself in a jaw-dropping expression.

“Yes? Yes me?” 

“Yes, you. You’re asking me out… right?”

Akamatsu stiffly pointed at Kirumi, and then herself, nodding all at the same time- a smile grew on her face as she slowly hopped around the surface until throwing her body onto the maid. “Yes!!!” she laughed, wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s neck lovingly. Mimicking her movements, the maid did the very same thing, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl’s body warmly. 

A few minutes passed and the two girls are still wrapped around each other, with smiles on each ends of their faces. Little did they know witnesses such as Korekiyo, Gonta and Hoshi were watching them from afar. They stared unintentionally, and then heard muffled crying from Gonta.

“G-Gonta… is so happy for Akamatsu and Kirumi!” He sobbed in happiness, watching the two girls celebrate. Korekiyo patted his back and Hoshi still stood there in utter shock.

“Let’s go before it get’s weird.” Korekiyo whispered, moving back still patting the poor boy’s back.

“It is already weird.” Hoshi sighed,

The three boys then departed, leaving the two girls in sweet happiness.

━━━━━━━━

The morning came as quick as an eye. Many woke by the sweet chirping of birds outside, eating the little crumbs of bread left on the windowsill, to be eaten of course. The cold made the students hesitant to wake up, snuggling deeper into their blankets and pillows, preserving the warmth until the Monokuma announcement came on. Akamatsu stretched her arms still on her bed, she yawned and the first thing she did was touch her hair to comb out any lumps to avoid a terrible bedhead. Rubbing her eyes slowly, heat raised from her pale cheeks again. She began to roll around her bed, squishing her face on her pillow screaming out muffled words full of love- she didn't believe what happened yesterday night was a reality. The young pianist had an urge to jump on the piano and play some romantic tunes for the morning, as embarrassing as it is. 

Iruma made a terrible idea to sleep in all throughout the morning, her electric heat blanket she carefully made for winter wasn't helping for her awaking. She was curled up like a squirrel nested in her blanket, beside her was another familiar face.

“Iruma-San, morning has came.” The gentle voice whispered, shaking the girl to wake up slowly. 

Iruma weakly smiled with drool leaking from her mouth, the voice sounded like pudding, she wanted to melt into it. “Not now, Shiroganeeeee.” She shut her eyes close and turned to the side. Tsumugi just sighed and fixed her long blue hair,

“Remember what Kirumi-San said last night? We have to help out with the decorations today!” Tsumugi retorted, continuing to shake the sleepy inventor which gradually lifted her tired body from her pillow. Iruma was dressed only wearing her undergarments. Underwear with a white cardigan over her bra, she was shameless. It was cold, yes, but the room had been heated up so much it felt like another summer’s day. Although Tsumugi still wore normal fluffy pyjamas.

“Oh darn.” Iruma groaned, “Why do I have to listen to what the bitch says?! Let's continue where we left off last night!” She exclaimed, her tone of voice sounding extremely impatient and desperate. Tsumugi hoped she didn't misunderstand, it's not like they did something they shouldn't have done last night- seriously, all they had was a typical girls night out. As in painting nails, doing each other’s hair, pillow fights and the such. The mature cosplayer never expected the inventor would have that much fun.

“Hmm… I was requested to make costumes for everyone, how about you?” Tsumugi asked gentility, slipping on her glasses and making a smile.

“Uh...just invent some...stuff.” Iruma scoffed and crossed her arms, exposing her breast more. “But we can hang out more together, right? After all it's just the two of us!!!” She began to whine, clinging onto Tsumugi’s sleeve with puppy heart eyes. Tsumugi smiled awkwardly and pointed down below the bed, Iruma turned to the side and shot her eyes down to the robot laying down sidewards down on the ground.

“FUCK!!!” She shrieked, crawling back at the bed to where the tired cosplayer sat, “WHEN DID YOU GET HERE??” 

The robot’s eyes functioned and flicked open and stared awkwardly at the two girls, “What do you mean, I was here the whole time! You only didn't notice me!” Kiibo countered, hopping out of his sleeping position. The chaotic morning went on and on for the three, until the announcement was finally made.

The Monokuma kubz announcement went on and off. All they said was to prepare for the Christmas party tomorrow, which was Christmas Eve. It was a hectic morning, but Saihara was unexpectedly...pumped? He woke up the earliest out of anyone else, even Kirumi, the sun hasn't even made its appearance. He could feel the icy wind fill his breath, making his throat squeeze, he coughed and went into the gym to brush of everything. 

Saihara took out some props he had beforehand, not to mention Monokuma gave him some decorations, as well. The storage room was filled with cobwebs and dust, the excited boy dragged out a huge tall box hiding from underneath the shelf brimming with dust and plopped it down the floor in the gym. It was a Christmas tree, luckily, in good condition too, he smiled for that. 

It took a good few minutes to get the Christmas tree standing, but Saihara was just a detective, he had no idea how to handle this plastic green tree. The tree started wobbling to the point it was toppling over, Saihara panicked until the tree on the opposite end felt light and all of the sudden, held up. The tree was positioned onto its righteous spot and he took a peek on whoever helped him. It was Angie, she grinned.

“Morning, Shuichi!” Her eyes flickered open, “Need help??” She asked, unopening her bag which little decoration and ornaments poured out from. Saihara sighed in relief, 

“Yes, please.”

Sooner or later, everyone came and helped out. Angie worked on the decorations, painting pretty swirls and words on the small orbs meant to be hung on the Christmas tree. Saihara was busy getting out more props from the storage room, Kirumi insisted she help out too. Akamatsu kept everyone on track, making sure everything was organised and well. Tsumugi knitted and sewed cute outfits for everyone, Kiibo assisted to help her out. Iruma worked non-stop on some machinery, Gonta was used for muscles. Yumeno kept on practicing magic tricks as Tenko cheered her on- Momota had Maki on his shoulders, as Maki herself hung the finished banners and posters on the walls. Amami worked on the food, preserving them so they could be heated up and good to go tomorrow morning, Korekiyo and Hoshi decided to help out, too. Ouma pretty much dilly-dallied around Saihara, but nevertheless he contributed in getting some games in case anyone got bored.

Eventually… After night fell, everyone believed everything will go according to plan!

━━━━━━━━

Finally, the long and anticipated day of Christmas eve has finally came for the worned out students of this prison-school. Ouma fell from his bed and yawned tiredly, he was exhausted from yesterday’s preparations and now he has an intense party to attend - little did he realise what time he had woken up from, it was already 11:35 am. The young, purpled-haired boy stared at the clock in absolute silence before freaking out and making his way across the hallway to the gym. It was unlike of him, as always, he would brush it off and make a dumb excuse about being late. But not for today, no. His attitude and personality took a different turn of events as soon as ‘No killing for a week’ appeared in his schedule. Ouma was in a much more happy-go-lucky mood than before… maybe he really did fear the killing game.

Usually, he would be taking his time, but he prefers not to question the situation now, after all his beloved Saihara-Chan might be waiting in the gym with that ridiculously cute smile on his face (which, for Ouma, made him rather excited). 

The door was pushed open rather aggressively, the colourful green and red wreath wobbling on its nail after the door was shut close. Ouma huffed and leaned his back on the wooden door and grinned eye to eye, 

“MORNING, SAIHARA-CHAN!!” Ouma clamoured, positioning himself as he put his elbow on the wall, raising a hand… to look cool? 

Saihara flinches by his childish and loud voice, and relaxes.

“You’re awfully loud for the morning…”

Ouma gasped and slapped himself on the cheek with both hands, haven’t yet realised how loud he spoke.

“I was excited, too excited.”

“For the party? Or for me?”

The raven-haired scoffed as a smile warmly stretches from his lips. “I feel bad for inviting everyone so early, despite having them work like crazy the day before..” His shoulders relaxes as he plopped down the notes Akamatsu had written down before passing out into a deep slumber.

As Ouma’s face stiffens, the door busted open unexpectedly. And a large amount of students came flooding out of the door, all in fancy outfits adorned by colours such as red and white. Ouma supposed Tsumugi made them, obviously, who could have pulled off such fanciful designs in such a short amount of time?

“Ah, Ouma-Kun, Saihara-Kun.” Gonta pleasantly smiled, his christmas hat jingling by the bells, “You should go to Shirogane-San’s room! She’s giving out a wide variety of outfits to choose from!!” Ouma glanced back and sees how almost everyone was nodding in agreement.

Saihara got out of his seat and smiled, “Oh, that’s great.” the door opened, Ouma tagging along before him curious to see to room packed with clothing. 

The moment the two boys stepped out of the gymnasium, they were met with rows of tables filled with drinks and food Amami and the gang seemed to have prepared. It varied from traditional dishes such as turkey, ham, sauce, and pastries. There was a station filled with drinks such as hot chocolate, and some additional soft drinks - Ouma guessed Iruma invented the quick refilling station. On the corner, sitting on a small coffee table, gingerbread men and cookies were laid out neatly, decorated in frosting in such care. Beside it was a very majestic-looking gingerbread house. Ouma and Saihara couldn’t help but drool.

“Like it? I really worked my butt off!” Amami appeared literally out of nowhere, with a stylish pink apron on his chest to his knees, a cute emblem printed on it. “Well, Hoshi-Kun, and Korekiyo helped out too..” 

“Yeah, It’s amazing.”

After a while, they finally reached Tsumugi’s cosplay study centre. As soon as the door was opened, Tsumugi greeted them with an excited “Merry Christmas Eve!!”, Kiibo clapping his hands to this. 

“Let’s get this over and done with so we can get to the real thing!” Tsumugi clapped her hands together. Saihara sighed and began unbuttoning his shirt, Ouma stared intensely to the rare scene but was dragged away from Kiibo whilst Saihara followed Tsumugi. Ouma sighed and shrugged, but he was agitated to see what pretty costume she had in stock for him.

━━━━━━━━

Akamatsu danced in her fanciful outfit in glee, she really hoped she looked cute enough (to appeal for Kirumi, of course), she giggled under her breath as a pile of white filled her vision. She scoffed and spitted the white substance from her tongue and opened her eyes to see a gigantic steel machine the Ultimate Inventor, Iruma Miu, was putting her hands onto.

Not to everyone’s surprise, Iruma had a stern and fierce expression plastered onto her pretty place. The machinery coughing out more substance of cold, liquidly but dry shaved ice. Akamatsu took time to look again, only noticing it was snow.

“Oh my god!” Her eyes glistened as she bended down, touching the white artificial snow.

“Well, since that bastard Monokuma wouldn’t allow natural snow… this’ll work.” Iruma picked her ear and sighed, the ground filled with white. She noticed the three girls, Tenko, Yumeno and Angie having the time of their lives playing in the cold and fluffy texture. 

“Tenko, the more you throw it at me… the more i’ll be getting buried.” Yumeno whined, half her body already covered in the snow.

Tenko just squealed and ran over, hugging the smaller girl, “Yumeno-San, I love youuu!!” Although completely ignoring what the redhead had claimed, she nevertheless felt her cheeks warm up and smile.

Iruma, still leaning against her proud invention, belittled and sighed. “When will Shirogane and Kiibo get here..” She mumbled under her breath, and pouted.

The artist popped above the thick snow and smiled, “God is watching us all!” it was totally out of context, but Angie was just being Angie.

A warm feeling stirred in Akamatsu’s heart, it was a wonderful sight without any worries whatsoever. She shut her eyes close, to fantasise even more until a tap woke her from her fantasies, It was none other than Kirumi. Her heart fluttered again,

“Shall we go?” Kirumi asked, looking ever so gorgeous in her eyes. Akamatsu flushed and held her hand softly,

“Y-Yes…”

Iruma tapped her feet to the ground numerous times, growing impatient. She looked down and decided it was time for her to depart to the gym, she sighed and packed her things, leaving the machine on auto-pilot. 

“Iruma-San!!” Quickly, she turned back to see Kiibo running towards her, almost out of breath. He did his classic smile, hands on hips, as he took time to gaze around his surroundings. He felt the cold substance land on his nose,

“Did you make this..?” He asked, grabbing a pile and examining every inch of it,

“Yeah, so?” She scoffed, “There’s nothing the great genius Iruma Miu can’t do…” Kiibo noticed her loud, proud voice slowly fading into a quieter tone. He had to speak up,

“A-Are you not having fun?” He asked in worry, eyes drooping down, Iruma shook her head.

“Nah. I’m not used to this.” A breathy sigh escaped her lips, her thoughts reminiscing about her hard-working times as a child. “All I want is-”

“Oh, Kiibo-Kun, Iruma-San.” Iruma’s head jolted up to see the blue long-haired girl breathless, then cupping her cheek with her palm and smilling with furrowed eyebrows, “Sorry I took forever.” She slightly bowed, apologising.

Kiibo was about to speak up, but was cut off rather abruptly by the hot-headed inventor.

“UGLY WOMAN WITH GLASSES!! You took WAY too long, FOREVER.” Her hair, along with her expression and voice pointed up. Tsumugi just smiled again,

“I said i’m sorry, wasn’t I?” She repeated, Iruma crossed her arms, “No need to shout.”

“Agh, forget it… let’s go!” Then immediately, almost unexpectedly, Iruma stepped back to link arms with the robot and cosplayer. Kiibo and Tsumugi noticed a faint blush on her cheeks, which made them giggle in silence and then patting her on the back. 

They were truly happy.

━━━━━━━━

The joyous party exploded widely. Everyone gathered in the gym, making cheers while embracing the peaceful feeling - The room was filled with smiles and laughter, along with some awkward funny speeches and activities. 

At first they were playing charades, it was awfully painful to watch as soon as Momota went up - his impersonations were so bad it was funny, funny enough to even get Maki cracking a smile and giggling under her breath.

“HEY, NO LAUGHING HARUMAKI!!” Momota retorted in embarrassment, Maki somehow formed a sly grin,

“Now now, you’re not allowed to talk, Momota.” She countered, her hands neatly placed on her lap. The grin still in place, everyone just laughed and enjoyed themselves.

Around the corner, Amami was busy sending in and out food and drinks for everyone, pretty much replacing Kirumi’s duty as the Ultimate Maid. After all, Kirumi was way too occupied with Akamatsu - It was the time of their lives, just cuddling, making jokes and sharing stories. 

“You’re not tired?” Gonta asked the poor boy with light green hair, he just smiled and waved back,

“Not really. I mean, I did have little sisters to care about back then.” Amami replied, serving a glass of red to the grown, built man. Gonta looked awkwardly back to forth with the glass and scratched his head,

“Gonta doesn’t drink wine, Amami-Kun..” He stiffly smiled, rubbing his fingers together,

“What?”

“What?”

━━━━━━━━

“Santa Claus!!” Yumeno yelled, tapping her wand twice or three times on her magic black hat. A big white poof clouded the whole stage, Tenko just staring in utter shock.

The curtain of white faded into colour as a familiar figure was tied up in strings, hanging from the ceiling. It was Korekiyo, dressed as Santa, tangled up. Tenko’s jaw dropped even wider, and so did the rest.

“Yumeno-San…” Korekiyo mumbled under his thick beard, struggling to break free from the strings where he hung.

“NO!!” The aikido master hopped up from her seat, kicking it down in the process, “THAT ISN’T SANTA, THAT’S JUST A PERVERT!!” She jumped on stage, ready to knock down the man known as Santa Claus from the strings.

“Ehh…?” Yumeno lazily whined, tapping her hat again, 

“This calls for drastic measures!!” Angie happily exclaimed, the stage filled with white once and again… leaving everyone in anticipation. 

“R-Rudolph..?” Yumeno stammered as the white faded back into colour - This time Korekiyo on the ground, being stepped by Tenko and a small, little, Rudolph in the corner. Hoshi scoffed and sucked his candy, scratching his reindeer hoodie.

“Ah, yes, the God’s has called you!” Angie’s hands clasped together, as if making a prayer.

Yumeno clumsily shrugged and scratched her cheek timidly, “Th-That’s it for the magic trick show!!” Finally, the curtains has closed.

━━━━━━━━

It was close to evening, the sun almost making it’s departure - Ouma and Saihara stood together as they watched the mistletoe they discussed before hung up on the ceiling. Not to mention, it was the same discussion where Ouma accidentally blurted out the fact he was intrigued by Saihara… in simpler words, he was attracted to him in a romantic sense. Ouma couldn’t deny that he wasn’t embarrass, but it was so unlike him to be all shy about it. He would do anything to gain his attention, even if it meant choking or stirring an unwanted scene. 

Saihara sighed, having little to no knowledge to what to do in a situation like this. Ouma was his classmate, as much as he doesn’t want to acknowledge it, Ouma was his friend. The feelings he felt towards him was much more different than the feelings he had developed to Akamatsu. He tilted down his hat. Besides a friend, what else was Ouma? After that confession, what was he to him? There was really one way to find out.

The mistletoe was left untouched, waiting for love to blossom under it. It was pretty much urging crushes to confess to one another, anticipating couples to say lovey-dovey words to one another. It was placed there for a reason, it cannot be there just for show. Saihara urged himself to do something.

He removed his hat, putting it down on the table next to him - the air setting the atmosphere a bit too tense for him. Akamatsu and Kirumi began to occupy the mistletoe, it happened so suddenly when the two suddenly kissed - be it only for one second until Akamatsu looked away, squealing in embarrassment. Kirumi giggled, attempting to conceal her blush only to give the flustered pianist a warm, sweet embrace.  
Ouma felt his heart jump, “What the heck, they didn’t tell us they liked each other!” He joked, having a canny grin, but Saihara was dead silent, eyes still set on the couple in mesmerisation. “Saihara-Chan?”

In a flash, Ouma felt his collar being dragged away, his legs being moved and wobbled away until he was positioned under the light of the mistletoe. His eyes were in wide shock, almost in awe. His lips were warm, obviously because someone so forcibly smashed his lips onto his. Ouma didn’t even fight back, he had no reason to, he placed his hand on the back of Saihara’s neck and gently stroked it.

Saihara felt his body heat up, never did he dreamt of the day he would be doing something like this so openly. But it was fine, he felt happiness in his heart and warmness return in his belly. After a good minute, they separated their lips and Saihara couldn’t help but blend in the moment; caressing Ouma’s cheek in pure bliss. He smiled and then bursted out laughing,

“I’m sorry, I just…” The detective looked away, hands over his wet lips, moreover his bright red face. As he turned to face Ouma, he noticed how red he was, too.

Ouma bit his lip and looked away from Saihara’s hand, he shrugged and then pouted, “Continue.” He placed his arms shyly around his back,

“Not now… people are watching.” Saihara laughed, scratching the back of his head. Ouma sighed and made a long face, but then again smiled in absolute tenderness.

“Sure.”

━━━━━━━━

Iruma was knocked out, she went absolutely crazy within a few hours after Amami accidentally passed her alcohol and booze. She went nuts, as if her mind flew off to hyperdimension - Kiibo and Tsumugi couldn’t help but to drag her to an isolate couch to let her head cool down as she slept. In the meanwhile, Kiibo couldn’t help but stare at the hard working cosplayer. 

“Wh-What?! Ouma-Kun and Saihara-Kun kissed?!” Amami yelled in utter shocked, Tenko felt her whole body go crazy.

“Yumeno-San!”

“I’m tired...Tenko..”

Kiibo took a glance outside, the sky has already turned pitch black with additional white sparks of artificial snow and some flickering bright colourful lights to fill in the darkness. He thought to himself that the mistletoe must have really stole the spotlight since Ouma, Saihara, Akamatsu and Kirumi made out. It was only natural, right about now, Tenko is trying to drag Yumeno to the mistletoe, Momota and Maki for some reason, lined up (pretty daring, I say), with the other’s just lazing around watching their classmates do their thing.

“Aw, as much as I would like to try out, I have to take care of Iruma-San.” Tsumugi sighed, replacing the cold towel on Iruma’s forehead, “Look, she’s drooling already.” she laughed, and so Kiibo did too.

Kiibo gives out a smile but tries to look serious. He always knew there was something going on with him and the cosplayer, but always failed to place his finger on it, which regularly annoyed him. 

“But, you actually want to go, right…?” Kiibo asked, sternly, making the cosplayer glance back to the mistletoe. She just smiled,

“Oh, darling, please.” She closed her eyes, Kiibo felt his ears twitch. “I’m far too shy.” Tsumugi says, her eyes flickering open like the moon. 

Kiibo felt bad, but all he could mutter out was repeats of his previous sentence; “But you want to go, right?”. The robot was strangely desperate and motivated.

“Kii~Bo.” She finally pronounces, leaning her head closer to Kiibo, “What if I said yes?” 

She was close. She was close to him. He felt his whole body boil, including his face, but he wasn’t making that of a good attempt to hide it which only made the girl back away and giggle, “Sorry.” She apologised,

Kiibo sensed steam rising from his head, and shockingly enough grasped the right amount of courage to go in for a kiss. 

Tsumugi was took in surprise, feeling his warm lips place very gently and carefully onto hers. He looks a lot calmer than he was a few seconds before, but it was just appearance; once his eyes met with her’s, his face loses all concentrations and once again he looks like a lost child. But likewise, Tsumugi tried not to meet with his eyes, too. She notices his movements are suddenly slow and uncertain. It makes their kiss clumsy and intermittent. 

Tsumugi felt the amount of pressure on her lips on his, to make it weigh less for the man before her, she meticulously linked her hands with his, intertwining their fingers. Slowly but steadily, the kiss was separated which left them breathless and puffed. Kiibo placed his hands over his face, making loud muffled screaming, spouting out nothing but romantic words.

“Oh dear.” Tsumugi once again sighed but with a sincere smile, she touched her lips and a blush filled her cheeks - she shrugged and crossed her arms, making sure this moment will never be forgotten.

━━━━━━━━

The christmas night ended perfectly as planned. Some were knocked out on the couch, and some still going on with celebrating making loud amends with each other, raising their glasses as one. Despite being stuck in a gruesome situation, having a day or so with this much peace was heartwarming and lovely for them all - none could retort to that.

Midnight fell short, the snow piling up outside as everyone fell asleep on the spot. Saihara reminisces about his uncle back in his childhood days, this christmas was just as fun and pleasing.

Truly this was a miracle, a miraculous week. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the events that begun to unfold the next week, killings, debates, trials… he didn’t want to think. All that is important was the moment right here, right now, and nothing else. This was Christmas eve, a beautiful Yuletide.

—Fin


End file.
